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2013年8月27日 星期二

Amazon Adds In-App Sale of Real Goods

Amazon Adds In-App Sale of Real Goods

By Greg Bensinger

Days of Wonder

Amazon wants its retail store to always be just a click away.
The Seattle retail giant announced Tuesday that developers can allow
physical goods from Amazon.com to be purchased through just about any
Android app. That means users could buy an actual calendar to hang on
their wall while using a calendar app, or spices from a recipe app.
It is easy to imagine how the new in-app purchasing could appeal for
marketers: Stick a virtual pair of the latest Air Jordan shoes on a game
character and offer them at a discount.
The announcement is one more sign of how Amazon aims to replace both
the corner and department stores by offering nearly all consumer goods
with just a click. The company has in recent weeks begun selling fine
art and wine, as well as fresh produce in new markets.
Eric Hautemont, chief executive of game maker Days of Wonder, said
the new program was a no-brainer. “How else can we close the loop
between digital and physical?” said Hautemont. “Our customers want to be
able to make these purchases easily.”
Days of Wonder, based in Los Altos, Calif., will offer a new version
of its game “Ticket to Ride” in a digital and physical version starting
Tuesday, Hautemont said. The physical board game will be sent to
customers through Amazon’s own warehouses.
Developers need to opt-in to the new in-app purchasing function by
downloading software from Amazon and choosing which physical goods from
the retailer’s site they wish to display. Depending on how much
merchandise they move each month, developers get between a 4% and 6%
commission on the products they sell through an app, in addition to any
commission they get through the Amazon site, said a spokeswoman.
The announcement comes just days after Facebook backed off an
initiative to sell physical goods like teddy bears and cupcakes through
its social media site, due to slow sales. That program had been viewed
as a potential threat to Amazon.
Amazon decided to roll out the in-app purchasing of physical goods
after a successful test with Activision’s “Skylanders Cloud Patrol” game
last year. Users could buy plastic toy versions of Skylanders
characters directly through the app for delivery to their home and were
also given digital versions to play in the game.
The Amazon spokeswoman declined to discuss specifics of the
Skylanders promotion and Activision representatives didn’t respond to a
request for comment.Corrections & Amplifications
Amazon will allow physical goods to be purchased through nearly any
Android app. An earlier version of this article said the sales would
happen through apps on Kindle.